It might surprise you to know that 1998's Lethal Weapon 4 is actually my favorite in the series. By the fourth time around the chemistry between Mel Gibson's 'Riggs' & Danny Glover's 'Murtaugh' has reached perfection. For me, what's always been the most impressive thing about the LW series is that despite the cartoonish over the top nature of the action & dialogue, the two main characters have always managed to feel like real people. This is a testament to the acting skills of Gibson and Glover, and the fourth entry is no exception. I should also point out that this was the first time American audiences got to see Jet Li shine on the silver screen! For that fact alone, this is worth a look for any hardcore action fanatic.

"With personal crises and age weighing in on them, LAPD officers Riggs and Murtaugh must contend with a deadly Chinese crimelord trying to get his brother out of prison."

Fair warning, don't watch the clip below if you haven't seen the movie yet!

In my opinion, the comedic element of LW 4 went way too far and was just too much, especially with the addition of Chris Rock. He was entirely out of place in this movie. Also, by the time this movie came out, it had pretty much been forgotten what the title of the series meant and who it was referring to in the first place. Mel Gibson IS the Lethal Weapon, which he was accurately portrayed as in the first and second movies. After that, things started to go downhill. LW 3 was decent, but LW 4 came across as way more of an action-comedy than anything. It was more like Rush Hour or, gulp, Cop Out.

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Timothy

9/21/2013 04:19:53

LW4 is my second fav, nothing beats the original!

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Snake-Eyes

9/22/2013 03:48:40

There is only ONE true LETHAL WEAPON film - the original, 1987 Shane Black scripted classic. The sequels are all lame. Too much comedy, piss-poor villains, Joe Pesci is just plain annoying! He was like a prototype Jar Jar Binks! In LW2, what the hell was up with that semi-softcore sex scene with Gibson and Patsy Kensit?! And was it really necessary to have some non-entity, South African henchman being 'shoe-horned' in as the murderer of Riggs' wife?! Mel Gibson's super-psychotic, loose cannon, 'couldn't-give-a-f**k' character became a skirt-chaser in the sequels! And man... I HATE RENE RUSSO! She is by far one of the WORST actresses in HISTORY! Lethal Weapon 4 was a joke! Jet Li's Hollywood debt was in a lame-ass sitcom!

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Dan

9/22/2013 06:59:32

haha! Pretty harsh but I agree with your some of your points for LW2. Joe Pesci was awful and right now I can't even remember who the villains were which isn't a good sign...

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Andymovieman

9/23/2013 01:57:14

I still think that all the Lethal Weapon movies are good because of the direction from Richard Donner and the acting by Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, etc.